A staggering 299,087 new cases were confirmed over the past 24 hours.
A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now infected more than 84.6 million people worldwide and killed over 1.8 million of them, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
On Tuesday, 1,019,347 million people traveled through U.S. airports, according to the TSA.
Experts predict that this Sunday will be the busiest travel day of the pandemic.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
The United States reported 3,725 deaths on Tuesday, breaking the previous single-day total of 3,656 set on Dec. 16, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The current numbers may not give the complete picture as the holidays have significantly impacted data, with many states having not reported numbers or have given incomplete updates.
December has already been determined to be the worst month on record for cases, hospitalizations and deaths, surpassing the high numbers seen in April.
-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
A COVID-19 vaccine created by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been approved for emergency use in the United Kingdom.
Roll out will begin Jan 4, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
The U.K. Department of Health and Social care announced that it has accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorize the vaccine for use.
"This follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness," the Department of Health and Social care said in a press release.
It is the second vaccine approved for use in the U.K. following the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
The National Health Service will prioritize giving the first doses of the newly approved vaccine to those in the most high-risk groups.
The vaccine will be given in two doses, with four to 12 weeks between doses, the U.K.-based pharmaceutical company said.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have hit a record high in the U.S.
There are 124,686 people currently hospitalized, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
There were also 194,512 new cases and 3,283 deaths reported on Tuesday, though the tracker noted that there are delays in both figures due to the holidays.
"Current hospitalizations remains our most stable state-reported metric during holiday disruptions, and it will be our best guide to reality until states work through all Christmas + New Year’s backlogs," it said.
